Academic Profile

Prior to joining the Legal Practice Course, I worked as a solicitor in the corporate department of a well-regarded commercial firm in Sheffield. I have experience in a wide range of commercial and company matters, including share and asset sales and management buyouts, business structures and group reorganisations, commercial agreements, trading terms and conditions and intellectual property matters. I studied law at Sheffield and then spent a year working in business at management level before returning to Sheffield to complete the Legal Practice Course. I joined the course as a lecturer in 2003. I continue to have regular involvement in several business interests.

Qualifications

LLB (Hons): University of Sheffield,
Diploma in Legal Practice: University of Sheffield
Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching: University of Sheffield

Teaching and Learning

My teaching is focused mainly on the LPC course; however I also teach on the GDL and at undergraduate level.

My experience in business informs all my teaching and I place a great deal of emphasis on encouraging my students to be commercially aware. This means that my approach to teaching requires students to put the client at the centre of their thinking so that they can understand the client’s concerns and provide advice which is not only legally sound but also practical and commercial sensible.

The emphasis at Sheffield on the LPC is to facilitate learning by doing. During teaching sessions, students are required to put their legal skills and knowledge into practice in a series of practical tasks and activities. Typically the students are will work in small groups of 3 to 4 and are asked to undertake tasks such as team-working, problem-solving, role-playing, negotiating and presenting. The aim is to ensure that students achieve the requisite knowledge, understanding and confidence to be able to do the job of a day one trainee solicitor.

The modules I teach are:

Legal Practice	GDL	Undergraduate
Business Law and Practice (Convenor)	Company Law	Law of Contract
Commercial Law (Convenor)
Solicitors Accounts
Professional Conduct
Practical Legal Research
Writing
Drafting
Interviewing and Advising

Publications

Legislation for Business Law 2009-2010, Oxford University Press

Professional Activities and Recognition

• Member of the Law Society
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy